


Blooming Blossom

by Kazura



Category: Disgaea (Games)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Light-Hearted, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2019-04-30 03:02:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14487417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kazura/pseuds/Kazura
Summary: Flonne's departure draws closer by every passing day, yet there are still those whom she can't help worrying about. Barbara is one of them.





	Blooming Blossom

To say that she doesn’t have any worries would be inaccurate.

The prospect of being an angel once more has always been one that excited her. She is an angel. Born one. And Celestia has been her home ever since she was a little one, waddling her way out into the world on her short legs and tiny feet. She doesn’t remember every day, but she remembers enough, and she misses many of its sights and wonders.

So, on the day she received the letter welcoming her back, the letter that bore the details of her now regained title as an angel trainee, it was only natural for her to feel joy.

But, in the midst of it, beneath the smile that would come as naturally to her face as she breathing would to her, sprung forth her doubts and her worries.

Is this really the right choice?

And so, she asked for time.

Master Virunga didn’t seem to understand. He was the Archangel who interviewed her, as conducting one with him was a part of the process. He seemed accepting enough then, but when she had asked for time, he frowned.

What is her purpose? Does she not want to be an angel once more after all?

He posed such questions, and she had answers ready for them.

She needs time to say goodbye. To ensure that everyone will be fine when she’s gone. And then, only then, will she walk back through the gates of Celestia.

Master Virunga didn’t seem entirely convinced, but Master Lamington understood, and he gave her his blessing.

Loyal as he is to Master Lamington, Master Virunga relented.

And so in the castle Flonne remains, if only for a short period of time.

It’s not enough. It doesn’t feel like it ever will. But she’s decided. And so she moves.

When mornings come, as far as mornings do in the Netherworld, she goes to tend to her garden. Sicily or Florence are usually the ones who accompany her. But, one day, one of Florence’s apprentices has asked for more instruction than usual, and Sicily is going over some letters of challenge addressed to Laharl with him.

So, on that specific day, the one holding out her watering can for her is Barbara.

“I have filled it up with the exact amount that you’ve told me to,” she says, her voice and face devoid of emotion.

Flonne almost frowns, but she catches herself quickly enough to offer Barbara a bright smile instead.

Flonne’s worried about Barbara, too. Very worried. Despite her efforts, Barbara still doesn’t seem to have decided on what she’ll do from then on.

For Laharl’s other vassals, such as Florence and Xenolith, they have found their own paths. Their own purpose. Despite serving their young king, following his every whim is not the sole future they see for themselves.

Florence has decided to keep saving lives, and to become the best Healer that any Netherworld will ever know. Day by day, she toils, unsatisfied with her already vast knowledge, and her spells grow stronger by every passing week.

Xenolith has decided to walk the Netherworlds whenever he can. He will always have a home, in their Netherworld, but he is free to indulge in his wanderlust, for however long he wishes to. For however long he sees it fit. And he can always come back. Always. Laharl has allowed that, too.

But Barbara only waits. She only waits until an order is given, and only then will she act. Her life, her very future hinges on what Laharl will decide for her, and neither Laharl nor Flonne is entirely keen on that.

A demon without ambition for themselves is no demon at all.

It took a while, but Flonne has finally seen the wisdom behind those words. Laharl wasn’t being horrid, when he said them. He simply said what he lives by.

To be devoid of ambition, to see no reason in acting without another’s command, that’s a life that Flonne can’t possibly imagine for either herself or for anyone.

With such heavy thoughts weighing her mind, despite the smile she has somehow managed to put together, she cannot help moving sluggishly as she takes the watering can from Barbara. “Thank you,” she says, for it is only proper, but her usual mirth is gone, and she feels awful for it.

She’s long given up on having Yuie flowers grow in the flowerbeds of the castle’s garden, but, with her return to Celestia drawing nearer and nearer after every passing day, she has decided to convert it to an herb garden instead. She’s absolutely sure Florence would love it, for Florence has many needs for herbs and has great interest in them as a whole. It would be a gift. Flonne has decided so.

She’s almost done watering half of the newly sprouting herbs when Barbara, who’s been quiet for all that time, says, “Do you not like us anymore?”

The watering can nearly slips from Flonne’s grasp. She scrambles to get a firmer grip on it, but ends up splashing her clothes with some of the water. She doesn’t mind. She’s too startled by Barbara’s words.

There’s a frown, on Barbara’s face, and Flonne finds herself at a complete loss for words. Those are the last words that she would’ve expected Barbara to say. If anything, she didn’t expect Barbara to say anything on the matter at all.

But.

“Do you not like us anymore?” Barbara asks again, likely assuming that Flonne didn’t hear her the first time.

“Of course, I do!” Flonne says this time, hugging the watering can tightly to her chest. “I like you all very much.”

“Then I do not understand,” Barbara says, her brow furrowed. “Why are you leaving? Were you ordered to? I heard that you first came here on someone’s orders. Are you being ordered to go back?”

Flonne smiles sadly. “No, dear,” she says softly, for she is indeed being a dear, and, if she would allow Flonne to give her a reassuring hug, she would.

“Then the only reason I can think of is that you are not satisfied here,” Barbara says, shifting in visible discomfort where she stands. “Has someone done you wrong? If you so command it, I will exact judgment on them.”

Flonne waves a hand frantically. “That’s not it at all!”

“Then why leave? I do not understand.”

“Oh, Barbara.” She sets down the watering can on the ground and tries to wring out the water from her frills. They remain a little damp, but it will have to do. Careful not to trample on anything precious, she walks over to Barbara and holds out her hands.

Barbara stares down at them. Then up at Flonne. “What is it that you want me to do?”

She doesn’t give her a proper reply. Instead, she asks, “Is it okay if I hold your hands?”

“If you so wish it,” Barbara says.

Flonne frowns. “But is it okay with you?”

“If it is what you want, then it is what I want as well.” It’s not the kind of answer that Flonne wants to hear, as it means that Barbara’s still reliant on another’s will, but she does take that opportunity to hold Barbara’s hands in hers.

Flonne doesn’t know if Barbara feels it through her gauntlets, but she gives Barbara’s hands a soft squeeze.

She’s about to open her mouth, words at the ready, when Barbara murmurs, “Flonne….”

“Hm?”

“I still do not understand why you would want to leave. If it is indeed what you want, then…I shall…accept it. But if you’re being forced to by someone, I do not think…I would like that.”

“No one’s forcing me, Barbara,” she says gently, soothingly.

It doesn’t have the desired effect, as Barbara’s lips only twist into a distasteful frown. “Then why?”

“I’m needed there,” she starts.

“But you’re needed here as well,” Barbara says, a firm stubbornness in her voice.

“Barbara—”

“Master Overlord says so. And what he says goes.” Briefly, she bites her lower lip, and her next words come out haltingly. “Emotions…do not come easily to me. But I could tell! He was earnest. He wishes for you to stay.”

Heart aching, there’s nothing more that Flonne wants to do at that moment than to pull Barbara into an embrace and to find Laharl to do the same for him.

But she stays, tightens her grip, and keeps on smiling.

“Do you want me to stay, too?”

To Flonne’s surprise, Barbara returns the firmness of Flonne’s grip against her own hands, and she closes her eyes. “I think…I do,” she says, finally, and, when she opens her bright red eyes, they stare at her, unwavering. “Yes, I do.”

“Thank you,” Flonne says, warm and pleased. “That means a lot, Barbara.”

“Then—”

“But Celestia does need me.” To turn down Barbara, when she has just declared something that she wants, does not sit well with her. Her heart aches more than before, but she continues smiling. At that very moment, above all else, she needs to reassure Barbara.

“I want to tell everyone there how wonderful you all can be here,” she says, “so we can all live together peacefully.” For that is the future that she’s decided for herself and for everyone, and she would very much like to see it through.

But Barbara doesn’t seem convinced in the slightest. “Can’t you simply have someone else do that?”

“I’m not sure if it would…if it would be best to leave it to someone else.” As much as it hurts her to admit, even to herself, she can’t be certain if anyone else other than herself or Seraph Lamington truly believes in a demon’s capacity for goodness.

If she were to be one half of the knot that would bind the two worlds together, she’s going to have to do it herself.

Barbara casts down her eyes, and, when she speaks, her voice is devoid of emotion once again. “Then…you are truly going.”

“Yes, I am.”

“This is…what you want.”

“It is, yes.”

“I still do not understand why you would want to be apart from those you claim to hold dear—”

“Oh, Barbara—”

“But if you’re determined, then…I suppose I can’t stop you.”

Flonne blinks, and, for the briefest of moments, she bites her lower lip. “I’m sorry.”

Barbara shakes her head. “Hearing an apology from you doesn’t sound right.”

Before Flonne could even ask why, Barbara presses on. “Master Overlord has told me a lot of things, and that…one of them, is that I must be unapologetic for doing what I truly want to do.

“That’s why, if this is what you truly want, there is no need for you to apologize. For demons, this level of selfishness is acceptable. Perhaps it would even be more appropriate to say that it is to be expected. Unless…Master Overlord is wrong. Is he? He sounded so certain that I saw no reason to doubt his words.”

That does sound like Laharl that Flonne can’t help smiling. He was probably talking about himself most of all. That is, his justifications for acting the way that he does. But for someone like Barbara, maybe those words needed to be said.

Flonne nods. “I think he’s right, in some way. Thank you, Barbara.”

“Hearing you say that confirms that you have made up your mind. Very well. I shall…do my utmost to prepare for the day you depart. If there is anything you would need of me, say the word, and I shall accomplish it to the letter.”

“I’ll be all right,” Flonne says. “I’m more worried about you, Barbara.”

“I don’t understand.” Barbara furrows her brow, and her hands tighten around Flonne’s again. “I don’t recall doing anything that would cause you worry.”

“Have you found out what you truly want to do?”

“Ah.” A hint of realization dawns on her face, and her grip slackens. “I see. It is not that I have done something. It is that I haven’t done something, correct?”

Flonne only manages a strained smile.

“I’m sorry, Flonne. Truly, I am. Despite your wishes and Master Overlord’s efforts, there is nothing that comes to mind regarding that matter. But…” She furrows her browand sets her lips into a firm line. “I think…I would like to find out by the time you visit us. You will, won’t you?”

“Of course, I will.”

She nods. “Then I have a task ahead of me.”

“Barbara, that wasn’t an order—”

“I am aware.” There is a small smile on her lips, and her gaze has softened. “Your intentions have long become clear to me. You do not wish to mock me, or look down on my way of life. You simply want what is best for me, correct?”

Dumbfounded, Flonne can only nod.

“I’m pleased. I thank you. As proof of that, until the day we meet again, I shall do my utmost to discover what it is that I want to do with my life. For one who cares as much as you do, I believe it would be a fitting expression of my gratitude. Would it suffice?”

“I…I don’t really know if you should do it as some kind of thanks to me,” Flonne murmurs, hunching into herself.

“I see. If it’s insufficient—”

Flonne finally fully lets go of Barbara’s hands to wave her hands frantically. “That’s not it! Of course, I’d love for you to find what you’re really searching for! But…I really, really, really want you to do it for your own sake. You deserve it, Barbara!”

Not for anyone else’s sake, but for her own.

“I…believe I understand what you’re trying to say. But, Flonne, if there is something that I have learned from you, Master Overlord, and the others, it is that one can accomplish a task with more vigor if they were to do it for another person.”

Flonne wrings her hands. “There are cases like that, too, but—”

“Did you not just say it? That you have decided to become an angel once again for the sake of Celestia and the Netherworlds? Or did I mishear?”

Pursing her lips, Flonne can only nod.

“Then allow me to do the same. To meet your expectations, and the expectations that Master Overlord has of me, I will do my best with you in mind.” She tilts her head. “Perhaps I ought to think of Master Overlord as well. He is the one who has given me a home here. It shall be my expression of gratitude for him as well.”

She’s not sure, if she should really let their conversation end on that note. But there is a different kind of determination in Barbara’s voice, one that Flonne wouldn’t mind hearing again. “All right then.” With the brightest smile she is capable of giving another, she says, “I’m rooting for you, Barbara.”

Barbara nods. “Thank you,” she says, her smile widening a fraction. “I’ll do what I can.”

For a moment, Flonne stays rooted at the spot, if only to marvel at Barbara’s smile.

Maybe she’ll be all right after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to try writing Barbara for a change. I think she has a lot of potential to be an intriguing character, especially the whole “finding a purpose of her own” thing.
> 
> For more ways to find me, [here's my Carrd](https://artwaltzed.carrd.co/).


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